WEEK 96
God, what is your guidance for me today?
How would you have me live into the world?
Where would you have me grow?
Today,
discern where in your life you are
being tested; challenged to grow.
What form do the tests take?
How intense are they?
Assess how you have responded.
With anger? Asking why me? Taking them
head on? Backed away? Some other
response?
List your tests.
Write them down,
count them or keep them in your head.
Present them to the One Who Can
Keep You From Falling.
Ask for strength and wisdom.
Understand that the tests would not come
if you were not able to meet them.
Have faith… they come as optimal
opportunities for spiritual growth.
Breathe in mountain…
Breathe out solid.
Stay strong.
Evening Reflection
The guidance opened up some very sensitive and vulnerable aspects of my life and forced me to be honest in a way that revealed some truths I had buried in my sub-conscious. By the time I had written down the 10th test I was shocked I had so many.
It wasn’t difficult to identify my tests once I got started. The surprise was how they kept coming. Then, to see that I thought most were 9’s and 10’s on a scale of 10, (10 being the most intense), was even a little scary.
But, to actually see my responses was most enlightening. I still held some doubt, anger, sadness, frustration, resignation, fear. There was also some backing away. But there was also love, hope, faith. There were parts of me that were meeting things head on, as well as parts of me asking why me? There was also apathy, resolve, excitement, and an undercurrent that said keep on keeping on.
My takeaway is that – I am human – a complex being in the life school of earth. Perhaps the very highest advanced souls escape the human condition and live in realms beyond this life while still in their body; but that is not what most of us live day-to-day.
As surprising as my list was, it made me recognize other tests I had met and have grown from to even be able to get to these present tests. It is the way of growth. And I know I have a lot of classmates. I am not alone. This why spiritually based groups can be vitally important. They serve as places to gain study partners… a place to learn different ways to navigate the tests… and they can provide inspiration – for the tests to come!
